With rising gas prices, global warming and the recent movement towards green living, the idea of eating local has been getting a lot of attention recently. After all, the benefits to eating closer to home are pretty impressive: shrink your carbon footprint, support the local economy, eat more nutritious and healthy whole foods, and possibly even save a couple of bucks in the process. Now you can add one more reason to the list for eating local, and it’s one you can grow in your yard—pawpaws.

You may have already heard of pawpaws (Asimina triloba), a small, tropical looking tree with large, drooping leaves and large, three-lobed flowers that look like inverted trilliums. A native butterfly attractor (pawpaws are the sole source of food for the Zebra Swallowtail butterfly larvae), pawpaws are often grown ornamentally for conservation and aesthetic purposes. But it is the fruit of the tree that attracts many pawpaw enthusiasts. Having the look and feel of an oblong mango with large, bean-like seeds, pawpaw fruit can grow up to six inches long and weigh as much as two and a half pounds, earning them the honor of being the largest native fruit in the continental United States. This fact alone may entice a gardener to add a few pawpaw trees to their landscape, yet what is most interesting about the fruit is its unique flavor.

Everyone who has the opportunity should grow some of his or her own food. Even if it’s just a container with herbs or a single tomato plant, it’s worthwhile to grow something. Of course, I’m biased. Plants play a huge role in my own life, being both my livelihood and my hobby. But there are so many reasons to get your hand dirty!

One morning last summer, a friend brought a copy of the magazine Discover to the farm. In it was an article that linked contact with soil bacteria to the release of serotonin in the brain. In other words, inhaling or touching the soil bacteria (called mycobacterium vaccae) can cause a peaceful state of mind or, in a depressed person, an alleviation of the symptoms of depression. Wow! A new reason to garden! Not only is it good for the environment (there’s no food more local than that which you pick from your own backyard) and personal health (from the standpoint of the exercise involved and the fact that fresh picked produce has the highest amount of nutrients), but now it’s been shown to promote mental health as well! Of course, I knew it all along.

The workers that James Oppenheim’s poem paid tribute to were mostly immigrant women, who fed their families mainly—and meagerly—on a diet of bread. They were striking, ultimately unsuccessfully, against a pay cut. Starving was a very real threat; presumably they were less worried about their hearts. But the “bread and roses” quote endures—a testament to the power that the beauty of flowers holds.

Today, it’s South American flower workers, most of whom are also women, who might well be seeking “bread and roses.” Amy Garbincus, a flower and vegetable farmer at Three Sisters Farm and GreenStar Wellness staffer, says she is often asked, “Who cares if flowers are organic?”

New in Produce

If you can hunker down through the last of winter —gardening season is coming. Look for organic, local seeds and more.

It's a tough month for local produce, folks, I ain't going to tell you no lie. Blue Heron Farm still has parsnips and potatoes. Stick and Stone is not sure how the carrot supply will hold up, but they still have their root medley. But IT is right around the corner. If you're like me, you're probably still thawing like Han Solo from your carbonite prison, slowly warming and blinking at the light — what is this thing? I believe IT is called THE SUN! Daylight saving time begins March 11, and March 20 ushers in the first day of SPRING! A slow return of green, flowers, and our wonderful abundance of fresh local produce are coming. Soon we will all be biking, swimming, and running around. In the meantime we have lots of potting soil and growing mix, and plenty of seeds. Be sure to check out our awesome variety of organic Fruition seeds, some of which are grown right around the corner at Remembrance Farm in Trumansburg.